The Government is concerned about the reducing space for civil society and freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, including the detention of a number of high profile members of civil society. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a number of statements expressing concern, most recently on 17 and 23 April 2015, following the sentencing of human rights defender, Rasul Jafarov, and human rights lawyer, Intigam Aliyev respectively. We consistently raise our concerns both bilaterally and in international organisations such as the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the UN. We have encouraged Azerbaijan to use the opportunity of hosting the European Games to address legitimate concerns about restrictions on human rights.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Tobias Ellwood) will represent the UK at the Opening Ceremony of the European Games on 12 June.<\/p>"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan; and whether the UK will be represented by a minister at the European Games in that country.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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As set out in its 2010 Strategic Concept, NATO is committed to the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons. However, for as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO has stated that it will remain a nuclear alliance.<\/p>
The United Kingdom fully supports efforts to combat the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction through the universalisation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention. Furthermore, the UK will continue to work to make nuclear weapons less necessary, with the goal of making them unnecessary. We believe that the best way to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual disarmament negotiated step\u2013by-step within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010, we consider that our nuclear deterrent is the ultimate means to deter the most extreme threats, and the United Kingdom will retain a credible, continuous and effective minimum nuclear deterrent for as long as the global security situation makes it necessary.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/15", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir David Lidington"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Aylesbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr David Lidington"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-10-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-10-15T14:08:04.4322927Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-09-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "NATO: Newport"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will propose at the next NATO Leaders Summit extending that alliance's support for the principles of weapons ban conventions, which are outlined in the Wales Declaration, to nuclear weapons.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/545", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Flynn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newport West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Flynn"} ], "uin" : "209098"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }